


A Thousand Words

by theclaravoyant



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Augmented & Alternative Communication, Disability Accommodation, Disability Representation, Multi, aac, canon compatible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-15 10:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7218796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theclaravoyant/pseuds/theclaravoyant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fitz and Mack explore communication methods to help work around Fitz' speech impairment.</p><p>May be extended to include more methods, situations, characters, etc - suggestions welcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Words

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a conversation with tumblr user onewordtest, I decided to try my hand at writing Fitz & other characters accommodating his disability, in this case using Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC).
> 
> Fitz' gestures in this chapter are loosely based on Auslan Key Word Signing, which is...well, it's fairly self explanatory. Disclaimer: I only know that "more" is formally correct, but Fitz is supposed to be naturally generating his signs, not following a formal register, at least at this point.
> 
> If you'd like to message me about anything in this, I'm theclaravoyant on tumblr too.
> 
> Suggestions for improvements, continuation or other scenes etc are welcome, by message or comment.

 

“Transceiver,” Fitz said.

 _“Transgender,”_ the device repeated.

“No, trans _ceiver.”_

_“Note runs over.”_

Fitz closed his eyes, groaning silently. He picked up the tablet, holding it closer to his lips as he repeated:

“Tran-cei-ver.”

 _“Receiver.”_  

“TRANCEIVER.”

_“Would you like to enter the spelling?”_

Fitz rolled his eyes, and mimicked the machine’s intonations.

 _“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”_  

Fitz ground his teeth together, and slammed the tablet back on the desk.

 _“Please repeat-“_  

And again.

 _“Please repea- please repeat- pl- please repeat-“_  

Slamming it against the desk was clearly doing nothing, so he threw it instead. It made it a few feet – not quite the spectacular toss he was hoping for – but it hit the leg of the desk as it careened toward the floor, and faceplanted.

“Fitz! Hey, hey, slow down, Turbo, what are you doing?” With a frown, Mack came over. He picked up the tablet and studied it carefully. The screen was cracked, and pixelated lines froze the program it displayed.

“It doesn’t understand,” Fitz whined. “It’s stupid. It’s in- insulting. I hate it.”

“This is the third tablet this week, man. You can’t keep doing this.”

“I _know,”_ Fitz insisted, “but it’s just so – it’s so –“

He pressed a fist against an open palm, trying to remember the word.

“I know it’s hard,” Mack assured him, “but we don’t have the resources to be throwing around like this. You’ve gotta take responsibility and look after your stuff.”

Fitz paced. He clenched a fist, and made a screwing motion as he walked.

“Hey, are you listening to me?” Mack demanded. “This is too far. You know that. If you need help, ask for it. Look – have you tried telling it you’re not American?”

Fitz shook his head, and made the screwing motion larger and more obvious.

“I’ll – I’ll fix it,” he insisted. “I’ll fix it.”

“Fix?” Mack mimicked his motion. “Is that ‘fix’?”

Fitz shrugged.

“It just helps me r…remember,” he mumbled. Rapidly moving through a series of gestures, he recited their meanings: “Fix. Hungry. Friend. More. Again. Help.“

“Help,” Mack repeated, tapping his temple with two fingers as Fitz had done. “Help, okay. What were the others?”

Fitz shrugged.

“Fix,” – he made the screwing motion, moving slowly so that Mack could copy him. “Hungry,” – he put a hand over his belly – “Friend,” – he linked his hands, mimicking a hand-hold – “More,” – he tapped his chest – “Again,” – he scooped and rolled his hand in a ‘replay’ motion – “Help,” – he repeated the temple tap.

“That’s clever,” Mack remarked.

“There’s more,” Fitz said, “but I’m s’posed to be practicing –“ He separated his fingers and thumb, mimicking speech. He eyed the tablet with disgust. “That thing’s bloody useless though.”

“Well, screw it.” Mack shrugged, and put the device aside. “If this works better for you, let’s do this. Teach me the signs.”

Fitz’ eyes widened.

“I’m serious,” Mack insisted.

“There’s…” Fitz opened and closed his hands – gesturing ten, ten, ten. “There’s too many.”

“Well, I’ll learn as we go then. Let’s fix this thing first.” Mack made the screwing motion with his hands, and Fitz smiled. “Do you have a word for this?”

Mack pointed at the tablet. Fitz held one hand out flat, palm up, and slid his other hand over the top of it, as if to emphasise the flatness of the object he was signing. Mack mimicked him, smiling.

“Fair enough. Now, how do we fix it?”


End file.
